Howl's Rogue Gateway
by SomniaRie
Summary: Howl and company begin to realize that Lettie hasn't been acting herself lately, and the Prince's new wife is slightly more than odd. Sophie takes it upon herself to determine the mystery behind Lettie's strange transformation, at her own expense.
1. An Unfitted Fit

A/N

Hello Dear Readers (I hope you're out there).

I started this story ages ago and have recently decided to start again and finally finish it (one more check on my list of lifetime accomplishments, eh, ehh?) Apologies if my writing is a bit rusty, I recently graduated from University and got used to more scientific writing. Anyway, enjoy, flame, review, drench your computers in lighter fluid and set them on fire (or give them to me free of charge!) Cheers!

P.S. I included a character guide at the bottom for those of you that haven't read the book.

Disclaimer: This fiction is based on Diana Wynne Jones' book Howl's Moving Castle as well as her series Chronicles of Chrestomanci.

**Chapter One: ****An Unfitted Fit**

Howl fingered the small drop pendant dangling from his ear with a distracted sort of look on his face. His glossy black hair reflected the bright sun beating over Market Chipping. Michael shifted anxiously next to him and gave Howl a worried glance. "Do you think we should go in there?" This thought obviously did not please Michael, as he shakily wiped a few drops of sweat off of his forehead.

"Heavens no," replied Howl, "Do you wish us to be torn to shreds?" At that Howl took to pacing back and forth in front of a smallish wooden door that read "Wedding Apparel" in shiny gold lettering. On the other side of Howl sat a rather pale looking Wizard Suliman.

"Lettie must have found something by now, it's been two hou—" The wizard was cut off by a loud bang as the door to the shop slammed against eroded brick. Lettie stormed out in a fiery rage, Fanny and Martha trailed after her in a fit, and Sophie slowly emerged.

"Well, that's it," she sighed, "Nothing fit to her liking. She's terribly upset, thinks it's some sort of sign." Sophie leaned against the door frame and began waving herself with a small paper fan. "I'll have to begin a dress straight away if we expect to have this wedding." Wizard Suliman gave out a queer, gasping shriek.

"But it's just a dress!"

"Lettie's been acting rather strange ever since Prince Justin married that foreign countess last month," Michael chimed. Sophie winced and looked over at the wide-eyed wizard.

"What are you driving at; she couldn't possibly have feelings for the prince!" Michael realized what he had suggested and began to stutter.

"Well of course, Ben, I…I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

Under normal circumstances, Sophie would have snorted and made some comment about how impossible it would be for Lettie to have feelings for a gentlemen so intangible as the prince, but these certainly were not normal circumstances. Ten months ago, Lettie had been in love with both Wizard Suliman and the Prince as they were combined into a single being who called himself Percival. Poor Percival had been put together and enslaved by the Witch of the Waste after both the wizard and prince attempted to pursue and eradicate her from the area. Being taken apart and put together again with new parts tends to make one forget who they are, so during Lettie's and Percival's odd courtship, he had no recollection of his past or the fact that he had two identities. After the Witch's demise, Howl put Wizard Suliman and the Prince back to rights, but not before the two young men and Lettie had gotten themselves into a veritable love triangle. While Martha, Sophie's youngest sister, and Fanny, Sophie's step mother, joked to Lettie how lucky she was to have two formidable men at her disposal, Lettie was a sensible girl. She rejected both of them after only a few day's consideration, insisting that her studies were vastly more important than any matters of the heart. The Prince, while having genuine feelings for Lettie after the Percival debacle, left to attend to his brother and his duties in Kingsbury when Lettie's intentions were made clear. Wizard Suliman, on the other hand, had insisted to see to her studies since she claimed them to be so important. He realized she would be too proud to follow him to Kingsbury for training, so he spent every other week with her at Mrs. Fairfax's. They did the natural thing of course, which was fall in love for the second time. The pair became engaged only two weeks before the prince returned with his new wife, and sure enough, the day the newly wedded couple returned to Kingsbury, Lettie became very peculiar.

"Surely," Howl grunted in a grand, reassuring voice, "Surely she's just worried about the wedding, Ben." He shot a menacing look at Michael, who was now sweating bullets and nervously twisting a moist handkerchief.

"Surely, indeed," Ben huffed as he turned on his heel and marched away down the street.

Michael sighed. "What a mess. I'm going back to the castle." He slumped away, leaving Howl and Sophie standing alone outside the wedding apparel shop.

"I better go after her. She's really not acting herself, Howl. She can be vain and stubborn, but she loves Ben. A wedding dress wouldn't keep her from marrying him." Howl put his arms around Sophie, drawing her into his broad chest. Sophie felt comforted, but it did not put her past Lettie's troublesome attitude. It wasn't only that, even her presence had changed. It was as if someone who looked and sounded just like Lettie had replaced her. _But I don't sense any magic, and Howl surely would have said something, and I'm certain Ben would know if his own fiancé was enchanted. _

"She just needs time, my love." Howl's attempted reassurance sounded more like a placating lie, but Sophie knew he was just trying to protect her. _He must know something unpleasant. But he'll never say a word if he thinks I'll get my nose in it. _So she buried her face in his chest and said in a muffled murmur,

"Let's go back to the castle for some late lunch." They turned and walked arm in arm through the afternoon hustle and bustle of Market Chipping.

**Character guide** (based on the book)

Sophie Hatter – Eldest Hatter sister (around age 19). Cursed by the Witch of the Waste to take the form of an old woman. Worked as Howl's maid while under the curse. She broke the curse herself when her own magic overpowered that of the Witch's.

Lettie Hatter – Middle Hatter sister (around age 18). Sent to work at Cesari's (the local pastry shop) but switched places with her youngest sister Martha. Studied as an apprentice under Mrs. Fairfax (a witch) where she met and fell in love with Percival.

Martha Hatter – Youngest Hatter sister (around age 17). Sent to apprentice under Mrs. Fairfax, but switched with Lettie to work at Cesari's. While working there, she met and fell in love with Michael

Michael Saunders – Age 18, Howl's apprentice, wizard-in-training.

Percival – Slave to Witch of the Waste, composite of Wizard Suliman and Prince Justin. Percival was transformed back into the two men after the Witch of the Waste's demise.

Fanny Hatter – Step mother to Sophie and Lettie, mother to Martha.

Howl Jenkins – Mischievous Wizard rumored to eat girl's souls.


	2. The Rogue Doppelganger

**Chapter Two: The Rogue Doppelganger**

Calcifer was flickering calmly in the fireplace as Sophie and Howl stepped in through the closet of the flower shop.

"Calcifer, I'm surprised you're here this early." Howl closed the door gently behind Sophie, and placed his left hand around her waist.

"It looked cloudy," Calcifer replied nonchalantly. He hated to admit that he got bored easily, and rather missed his human friends in the castle. Michael looked up from the work bench where he was pouring over a spell Howl had given him a few days ago.

"Howl! I have a question about this spell. I'm stuck on the third line." He bounced excitedly at Howl's shoulder, waving around the piece of paper. Howl walked with Michael over to the bench, mumbling something about nutmeg. Sophie stared at Calcifer who cowered in his grate.

"You look tired," he said, eying her warily.

"Thank you for noticing," Sophie scowled as she perched herself in a chair near the grate. _I wonder if Calcifer would notice something about Lettie?_ She looked over at her two companions who were now munching on bread and cheese, spilling crumbs all over the spell and the table. It would have to wait. Although Howl seemed distracted, he always had a third eye on Sophie, and knew her ways better than she herself. Instead, Sophie took out paper and pencil to begin sketching a dress for Lettie. "Did you go anywhere exciting today, Calcifer?"

"I spied on the Prince and his new wife." Calicifer had a proud smirk on his flame ridden face.

"Is that so?" Sophie never cared much for gossip, but Market Chipping buzzed about the business between Prince Justin and Countess Cosmia, making it rather easy to know everything about the situation. Apparently she came from a foreign land that no one ever heard of, especially since no one could pronounce the name. Her hair was a yellowish white color that matched her very pale skin and unusually tall stature. Word had it that she spoke a strange language, and was rarely seen outside of the castle doors. Mary Boonaham, the plump lady who started a new hat shop across the street, mused that her skin would burst aflame if she dared step outside.

"She likes to sigh a great deal. And she drips too much." He flickered significantly at this.

"Perhaps she's homesick." How the prince had found her was a great mystery. Six months after he and Wizard Suliman were free from the Witch's grasp, he disappeared again, prudently leaving a note indicating that he needed a holiday to recuperate. He returned four months later with Cosmia in tow, announcing that she was a foreign countess and his soon to be bride. The king seemed to think it was time that Justin married, and after three months of investigation into her background, he dutifully presided over the ceremony.

"Michael and I need to go to Wales for a bit," Howl announced. "Apparently there's no nutmeg in Market Chipping. Sad, really."

"Why do I have to go?" Michael whined.

"Because you're the one that wants to do this spell so badly, and nothing in the world will make me face Megan alone." Howl looked as if it were perfectly reasonable to use Michael as a shield against his sister. "Would you like to come along, Sophie?" This was just the moment Sophie was waiting for.

"No, I really must get this dress started." She waved the sketch she had been working on while talking to Calcifer. Howl looked crestfallen.

"But you're so good at intimidating Megan!"

"Nonsense. You have Michael to protect you, and that's plenty." She stood up, gave Howl a kiss on the cheek, and waved them both out the door."

"You're hard," Howl groaned as Sophie pushed the door closed.

"Always." She brushed her hands and returned to her seat next to Calcifer. He flickered nervously.

"You're up to no good."

"Always," She said again, slightly amused. "I have a feeling that there's some bad business lingering around here, and I have another feeling that you might know about it." He stared at her with his steady, round eyes.

"I don't know a thing."

"You may not know exactly, but you can give me information, can't you?" He continued to stare. "Good. What do you know about doppelgangers? Calcifer's eyes widened at the word as his bright orange flames quickly paled to a dull blue before snapping back to their original color.

"A ghostly counterpart of a living person, an alter ego showing a second self; a perfect substitute or deputy, another aspect of one's personality." He answered mechanically.

"I don't want the definition, Calcifer, I want to know if there is such a thing, if it's possible for a person to be replaced by someone or something that isn't really them." Sophie gripped her skirt, her skinny knuckles turning white.

"Not in a sealed world, no."

"A sealed world? What do you mean? Is there…more than one world?" Her heart skipped a beat. Was there something beyond Market Chipping, beyond Kingsbury, the Waste, the star filled sky she was so familiar with? Were there worlds completely independent of one another? Was Wales in one of those worlds? She never really understood the blackness beyond Howl's magic door, or the land to which it led. Sophie always assumed that Wales was a part of Ingary, a very distant, unheard of part, just like everyone assumed Countess Cosmia was from an unknown part of Ingary, but Ingary nonetheless. "Calcifer, is Wales in another world?" He flickered very dangerously at that.

"You weren't supposed to know."

"I don't care what Howl said to you, now I know something, and I won't stop at you to find the answer." She was leaning very closely to Calcifer now, her sharp breaths causing his flames to sputter. He closed his eyes for a minute, and took as deep of a breath as a talking ball of fire could take.

"Yes, there is more than one world, many more, in fact. Each world is a copy of the other, in which slightly different historical events have caused each world's present reality to be unique. For instance, a war may have occurred in one world, causing it to revert to a more primitive state, whereas another world may be more advanced because it avoided the war. Some worlds are relatively similar to one another, while others are drastically diverse. Your world and Howl's birthing world are an example of the latter, although I imagine there is a point in each of your world's histories where you will find many similarities."

"What about the people, then? If worlds are copies of each other, then are people copies of each other? Are there thousands of Sophies throughout the universe?"

"Yes, and just as the worlds vary, the people vary. There may be thousands of Sophies that look like you, that have your voice and your name, but some of them may not act like you at all, others could be mistaken for your clone, and some may be dead.

"These worlds can cross? They must be able to cross if Howl is here."

"Gateways can be opened between worlds, but it's rather difficult for people who are not magically talented to pass through. If someone who does not truly understand the creation of a gateway tries to cross, they'll start a chain reaction where their doppelgangers will be pushed into the closest world. If you tried to cross without doing it properly, you would push your counterpart not into your world, but into the next world beyond her, then she'll push her counterpart into the next world, and so on and so forth."

"What about Wales, then? Is there an Ingary Howl that got pushed out?" Had Sophie really misjudged Howl's character? Had he removed an unsuspecting man from his entire world in order to create a life in Market Chipping? Calcifer hesitated.

"On very rare occasions, there are no copies of a person, they are unique. If that happens, they are significantly more magically powerful than a regular, copied person. Not to mention that they posses several lives. Howl is an example of this case. Since he's so powerful, he can cross worlds with ease and without disrupting the lives of doppelgangers, since there are none."

"I see." _That's a relief, I should've known that Howl would never do that to another person. But Lettie…how could she end up being replaced by a doppelganger? _"Has…has Lettie been replaced? Is the Lettie here really a Lettie from another world?" Calcifer paused for a moment, flickered slightly, and looked up at Sophie.

"I don't know."


	3. A Doorway Marked Red

A/N

So, I obviously haven't updated in a few (three) years. I've had this chapter sitting unfinished on my computer all this time, and finally decided to start writing again. Apologies if there are some discrepancies in writing style (i.e. quality). Hopefully some of you are still out there and interested in my story. Cheers!

Disclaimer: I did not come up with "The Nothing" (much to my own dismay). Please refer to The Neverending Story written by Michael Ende

**Chapter Three: A Doorway Marked Red**

Sophie sat poised on the edge of her seat, staring intently at Calcifer. He looked back at her with his small, fiery eyes, letting only a slight flicker of sympathy pass through them. "I can tell you this," he said, returning to his glossy, unbiased expression, "A new gateway has been opened, and something strange has passed into this world." Sophie's eyes widened as she took in a short breath.

"Where-" She was interrupted by a loud bang issuing from the castle door as Howl and Michael burst through.

"I mean _really,_ it's as if she thinks that I'm a common thief! A hoodlum! It's nutmeg for goodness sake!" Howl slammed a small glass bottle onto the kitchen table, giving it a menacing look. Michael sat weakly on the other end of the bench next to the table.

"She really is horrible, Sophie. She's almost worse than the Witch of the Waste!" Michael slumped a little on the bench, and gingerly wiped his forehead with a pocket handkerchief.

"I'm sure she isn't that bad. You lot just burst into her castle without a word and expect her to be an accommodating hostess?" She gave them each a stern look. Michael cowered, and decided to take great interest in the brown bottle that had been so much trouble. He carefully untwisted the cap and stuck his nose in, took a deep breath, and resurfaced with a pleased look. "Why don't you just tell her that you're a successful wizard, Howl? I'm sure she would understand perfectly."

"Ha! She would kick me out of her house on the spot!" He fumbled with a used tea spoon that had been left on the table. Before Sophie could respond, a small knock issued from the flower shop door.

"That's probably Martha," Michael immediately started looking cheerful as he hopped off the bench and disappeared through the door connecting the shop and the castle. As soon as the resounding click of the door left the room, Howl turned his piercing eyes toward Sophie, who was now busying herself with a sewing basket laid delicately across her lap. She could feel his gaze immediately, yet determinedly kept her eyes upon the various threads and needles within her basket.

"Sophie," came his deep voice full of purpose, "What were you and Calcifer doing while we were gone?" She could tell that he suspected her motives, but the clenching fist within her stomach told her that she must see this through; to aid her sister Lettie, as well as discover some of Howl's more profound secrets.

"We were discussing the Prince and his new wife. Calcifer was spying on them earlier today." She kept her eyes on her thread, yet spoke her words with confidence. Howl opened his mouth to speak again, yet was interrupted by Martha and Michael entering through the flower shop door.

"I don't know, Michael, she's just in pieces". Martha looked up at Sophie with a look of strained fatigue. "Sophie, have you ever seen her like this?"

"You know Lettie, Martha, she always likes to have things her way." Sophie's heart skipped a beat, knowing that she had never seen Lettie act like this, knowing that the person wearing Lettie's clothes, talking with Lettie's voice, walking in Lettie's shoes, was in fact, not Lettie. But how could she tell Martha? Martha had never exhibited the magical talent that Sophie had developed during her imprisonment under the Witch's curse, or the skills Lettie had developed while studying under Mrs. Fairfax, she would never understand the situation. Sophie had decided. She would have to find that gate on her own, and figure out what had happened to her sister. If anyone else knew, they would just try to stop her and figure out a "safer" way to rescue Lettie.

"I just feel sorry for Ben, he's been miserable for the past month. What happened in these few weeks that made her change? It can't really be cold feet, could it?" Martha paced around the long wooden table, her arms crossed. Michael crossed over to her and put his arms around her shoulders.

"Could she be pregnant?" Michael's words barely left his mouth before Martha spun around, her dark brown hair wildly whipping around her face.

"You don't really think-"

"Ho, now let's not jump to conclusions, Michael." Howl gave Michael a stern glare as he got up from his feet and strolled to the bottom of the stairs. "I think I'm quite finished talking about all this for now, I'm going to take a bath." With that, he hopped up the stairs and promptly started the rush of hot water that made the pipes creak below. Martha's excitement now subdued, she crossed over to the flower shop door and rested her hand on the doorknob.

"Maybe Howl's right, I can't think about all this anymore." She turned to Michael, "Coming?" He blushed.

"See you, Sophie." Sophie's heart started pounding. It was just starting to get dark, everybody was occupied; this would be the moment to look for the gate.

"Calcifer," she whispered, "can you tell me how to find a magical gateway?" He looked strained, a good amount of his energy dedicated to heating Howl's bath water. Once he was freed from their combined curse, he vowed to never heat water for Howl again, yet one rainy day with a closed chimney quickly changed his mind. Howl, of course, takes advantage of the situation; leaping to the bath the second Calcifer gets settled.

"No, I can't, because you'll go running off, and Howl will blame me!"

"Calcifer, please, you can be scarce for a few days if you're so worried about getting in trouble. I have to do this!" Sophie heard a bump from upstairs. "Please, I need to go before anyone notices!" He rolled his eyes.

"You shouldn't worry about him," Calcifer motioned towards the upstairs bathroom, "you know he takes hours in the bath." He paused for a moment, looked up at Sophie's face, and sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you what I know about gateways, but I don't know exactly where this one is, so don't get too excited."

"I just need some hints," Sophie started to gather a pack: bread, cheese, a spare dress, a spell book entitled _The Handy Dandy Book of Enchantments, _and her trusty stick.

"Most gateways are, like you said, magically induced. If that is the case, then there should be a disturbance of the magic balance in the surrounding area. You would be able to sense it when you got close enough, but you'd also see spells-gone-wrong—mutated flowers, unlucky luck charms, you know the sort." Sophie thought painfully of her acid-spewing flowers she had created when she was still unaware of her powers. "My best guess is that Lettie did not create that doorway—she only has the garden variety magic skill that Mrs. Fairfax bestowed upon her, and therefore, would not have enough power to open a gate. That means whoever created the gate is powerful, and may very well return to it, so be careful."

"Thank you!" Sophie grabbed her things, and quickly flew out the door.

There was a mild chill outside, Sophie drew her shawl around her as she plodded down the street. _Where am I supposed to look for a magical disturbance? _She thought long and hard of the various places a magical gateway could be, places that would be discrete enough not to be noticed. No such place existed in a little town such as Market Chipping, and the vast, rolling hills of The Waste (while certainly reclusive) were wide open, concealed by nothing but the regular morning mist. She saw no need to stay stationary while contemplating a place suitable for some "serious magic" (Sophie often categorized magic into levels of severity – the more mischievous the spell, the more serious the magic), and so she meandered through town while deeply immersed in thought.

Most of the Market Chipping locals greeted her as she whisked by, remembering her as the eldest and most sensible Hatter daughter. A few, however, bowed their heads and ducked behind curtains, or busied themselves intently with tasks that required little attention. These people remembered the now young and radiant looking Sophie as the ill-tempered old woman who for nearly a year overtook young Wizard Howl's Spell-Dealing business. Upon encountering such people, Sophie found it difficult not to remind them that Howl was rumored to eat young girl's souls while she was under the Witch's spell, but a small part of her took pleasure in their fearsome glances. She even found herself waving her stick around menacingly while passing some of these locals, especially the old fisherman's wife who insisted the Witch of the Waste had really been a victim and Sophie had been after Howl's magic and fortune. _Howl's fortune, ha! _Sophie snorted. Howl was constantly coming up with schemes to make quick money, and would often lose his money as quickly as it had been acquired. Sophie finally forbade Howl (and Michael, for that matter) from having any hand in the money portion of the business. Now, what with Sophie's shrewd banking skills and the success of the flower shop, the three of them were doing quite well. Martha still worked at Cesari's, on the fast track to becoming a Head Pastry Chef, something she frequently boasted about. And until Lettie's recent peculiarity, she had remained under the tutelage of Mrs. Fairfax and spoke about opening her own enchantments shop.

Sophie wavered in her steady pace, the little clenched fist in her stomach growing tighter as she thought about _her _Lettie possibly roaming around a different world. It was then that she realized she had been walking for hours, without paying much attention to her whereabouts. A quick look-around indicated she had wandered South of Market Chipping, somewhere between the outskirts of town and the ruins from which Market Chipping originated. The buildings were farther apart, the stone degraded and dark compared to the smooth grey stone in town. Some were abandoned, some Sophie assumed, were occupied by those that could not afford lodging elsewhere. The sudden realization that she had embarked on a (let's face it) very dangerous magical mission _alone _swallowed Sophie up. She tightened her grip on her trusty stick and puffed up her shoulders, getting ready to tell herself she was perfectly capable of rescuing her dear sister on her own when she heard a familiar crackling behind her. Despite herself, Sophie whirled around with her stick and spat a quick defense spell under her breath.

Calcifer's beady eyes met her with a look of amusement. He surveyed the result of her defense spell, a teal-tinted gossamer shield floating between her and her supposed enemy, and he let out a dry, crackly laugh. "You know I could crush that shield without batting an eyelash, don't you?"

Sophie glowered. "It's a good thing, then, that you don't have eyelashes!" She spun on her heel, the little shield disintegrating with the movement, and progressed all of two steps before she realized that Calcifer's presence meant Howl was no longer being occupied. Visions of Howl, Michael, Martha, and Fanny frantically searching for her around Market Chipping filled her eyes as she slowly turned back to face the fire demon. "Calcifer! How could you leave when you were supposed to be keeping Howl distracted?"

"Oh relax" Calcifer sighed, a sound reminiscent of a puffing fire. "Howl fell asleep after 3 hours of doing gods know what, Michael and Martha never came back, and being as nothing interesting was going on in Market Chipping, I was bored to tears" He looked at her for a minute, "Besides, you're doing an awful job of looking for the doorway, there are signs right at your feet"

Quite wisely, Sophie took this as a literal statement, and after taking a deep breath with the assurance that Howl was not hot on her trail, she looked down to see a rock _crawling _across her feet. She bent down to pick it up between her pointer finger and thumb, bringing it eye-level. Two little rock-eyes opened and stared at her, a slight quiver in the lids.

"Where did you crawl from?" The rock shifted his eyes back and forth, then said in a very small, somewhat rocky voice "half a mile towards the old castle ruins." Sophie looked in the direction of the unused structure long since destroyed and abandoned after one of Ingary's more serious wars. As she turned her gaze, she felt a little twinge; an ever so slight tingling in her skin.

"Thank you very much." She placed the rock back on the ground, where he continued crawling down the street. Sophie glanced up at Calcifer, who now had a smug sort of look plastered across his flame filled face. She snorted, and resumed her brisk pace toward her destination. Calcifer trailed behind her in silence, weary of any snappish remarks Sophie might unleash.

As they neared the ruins, the pair encountered several such creatures as the rock-being, all of them moving away from the source of odd magic. One large tree passed them, pulling up its great, deep roots with each laborious step. It glanced at Sophie only briefly with what she had assumed were eyes – deep black circles in its seemingly endless foliage. Around its feet were what looked like giant caterpillars, but were in fact long slabs of moss, jerking along the pathway to an unknown destination. Sophie wondered what would happen to these things once they left the boundary of this magical disturbance, and realized with just a twinge of sadness that they would most likely settle wherever their-rock legs and root-feet could no longer take them. The next creature she encountered was not as pleasant as the others. She could smell the stench long before she could see its putrid colors – a sickly yellow spotted thing with vaporous red spores, its rolling limbs lumbering towards her with a deep grind. She could not determine the original source of this thing; it looked a mishmash of various creatures, perhaps a flock of birds fallen into a bed of flowers, glued with mud and soot. She gripped her trusty stick firmly, ready to whisper a string of words under her breath in an attempt to defend herself against any distemper the creature might pose. Calcifer glided up behind her and puffed, "it won't hurt you if you leave it alone, these things bear no malice unless that was the intent of the magic". Sophie gave him a curt nod and passed by the creature with her eyes fixed steadily ahead of her.

The sun had long since set by the time Sophie and Calcifer stumbled upon the doorway. The fire demon's bright blue glow and the light emanating from Sophie's stick allowed them to steer their way through the fallen walls and scattered stone. They spoke few words until Sophie lifted her pale gray eyes from her feet to see a faint red light. "Huh, she didn't even seal the door behind her," Calcifer zipped around the corner toward the light before Sophie could register that he had said "she" and thus had an idea of who opened the door in the first place.

"Calcifer!" Sophie ran after the demon, her breath caught in her chest. She came to a quick stop in front of a black expanse encircled by a bright red ring. The darkness looked distinctly similar to something Sophie had once read in a book, referred to as "The Nothing". Simply put, there was nothing there, it was as if the patch of space-time that had been present before had simply been zapped away. The fire demon was no-where in sight, and Sophie wondered to herself if he was seeking his fortune in this world she was about to enter.


	4. Crossover

**A/N**

Hey, what do you know! An update!

Serenity-Touched: I love my precious flap-dragon. Thank you for your kind review, I arrow three you forever.

Lantisca: Thank you for your kind words!

Tulcadhiel-Greenleaf: Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoy my take on the Howl universe. Huzzah for cheering you up, that puts a big smile on my face :) And you're so right, there's definitely a time and a place for fluff. I'm not sure I know the time and place, but so far so good, right? Right?

Anyway, I wrote this while looking for and acquiring a new job and planning a Pirates of the Caribbean birthday party for my best friend. So. Let's just say I hope it's good and I didn't black out while writing. Cheers!

**Chapter Four: Crossover**

"The Nothing", as it turned out, felt like a very specific something. Sophie later decided it felt as if her body were undergoing some horrific disfigurement, being pushed and squeezed through a space that was most definitely not the right size for a woman of average weight and stature. Her bones creaked, her skin stretched, her head pounded so severely she thought it would burst. All the while, her eyes were fixed on blackness so deep she wondered if she had gone blind. This went on for what felt like years until Sophie found herself standing much in the same state that she had been in before she crossed over. The scenery, however, was vastly different. She had left a room full of dirt and eroded stone and entered a room full of extravagance. The walls were quite intact and were made of a rich wood decorated with fine gold; the floor was covered with an intricate rug of deep purples and royal blues, stitched with thin gold thread. She was facing a giant four-poster bed made of the same dark wood with massive curtains that matched the rug tied to each post. The room itself was huge, much larger than the flower shop and castle combined. In fact, Sophie thought bitterly to herself, it was at least ten times the size of any bedroom she ever inhabited. The large area left space for a vanity table, an antique couch underneath the windows, a tea table with cushioned chairs and a writing desk. All the furniture was just as fine and rich as the gold-embellished floor and walls. It was still dark outside in this new world, giving Sophie the relief that she would not have to worry about time differences on top of everything else. The large paned windows were on the South side of the room, to the right of where Sophie stood. They spilled squares of moonlight on the bedspread and the rug. Sophie noted to herself that she saw no still body in the bed, meaning that the room was most likely unused as it was now quite late in the evening. There were no portraits on the wall, as Sophie had hoped, leaving no indication of who might have lived in this room before.

Calcifer was nowhere in sight. Sophie realized with a speeding of her heart that this world may well not have fire demons, making Calcifer a large moving alarm that something was amiss. "Botheration!" Sophie hissed under her breath. "Why must demons be so mischievous?" Then she smiled to herself with the thought that she was equally as mischievous, especially since this excursion had been her idea. _Nothing to do but go after the menace_, she sighed to herself. Sophie looked longingly at the bed, feeling every ounce of fatigue from seeking out and entering a magical doorway. Before heading to the bedroom door, she thought she ought to check the closet to examine the clothing styles. For all she knew, the women might wear pants, and Sophie had left the castle shop wearing a forest green dress with silver stitching along the cuffs and down the front (Howl had picked it out for her, insisting it brought out her vibrant green eyes and made her red-gold hair "look like an autumn flame". Sophie had rolled her eyes but wore the dress often). She turned away from the four-poster toward the closet. It, too, was massive, holding hundreds of dresses, shoes, coats, capes, and hats (not nearly as fine as the ones Sophie once made). Upon surveying the clothes, Sophie thought these would make her stand out more than her own dress, the fine silks and thick velvets obviously belonging to someone of high status. She wondered briefly what kind of clothing the staff wore, but closed the closet doors without taking another glance through the finery.

The broad hallways were lined with large landscapes and detailed portraits. Sophie squinted to make out the severe faces, but recognized none. The landscapes looked like depictions she had seen in history books, the topography as wild and unused as the Waste. She thought she may have seen an ancient Market Chipping. The buildings were taller, more industrial looking, the thick stone a dark charcoal color rather than the warm tan of her own Market Chipping. Each step seemed to take centuries, the long dark of the hallway stretching into oblivion. More than once Sophie had to suppress the urge to march herself back to the elegant room and hop right back into her own world. _I wouldn't be a very brave witch or a very good eldest sister if I turned back now. _She had said this to herself each time her stomach tightened at the turn of a corner or a creak in the dark.

Just as Sophie had quite enough of the Never-ending Hallway (what she so fondly labeled it upon retelling her story) she came to an abrupt stop at the entrance of yet another large room. This room had an elaborate chandelier hanging in the middle, more landscapes and portraits lined the walls, and well-crafted wooden tables held tall, intricate vases full of exotic flowers. Calcifer was hovering over the right corner of a wide set of heavy wooden doors.

"Calcifer, you pest of a fire demon! If you ever pull a stunt like that again I will close the windows on every rainy day for the rest of your life!" Sophie said this in what she thought was a stern whisper, but was really a somewhat shrill yell.

Calcifer issued an obstinate look at Sophie where she stood across the room. He hated the rain, and was quite sure no other house in Market Chipping would leave windows open for a stranded fire demon. He was also quite sure Sophie was throwing out an empty threat. But he _really _hated the rain. "I knew you would catch up" Calcifer tried to say as offhandedly as possible while turning his gaze back to the large wooden doors. "I can't seem to get through these doors".

Sophie, still quite irate, snorted loudly. "So a powerful fire demon can't even open a simple door?" She strolled across the room with a smirk and placed her hand on the smooth gold handle. Unfortunately, the door seemed to have some sort of enchantment on it, which gave Sophie a rather nasty shock while making a loud, clapping sort of noise accompanied by a flash of red light. Sophie thought she heard Calcifer sizzle.

"The door seems to have been enchanted by an even more powerful wizard; I was scanning the area for any gaps in the spell before you decided to burn your hand." Calcifer looked more superior than he normally did, little blue flames flickering out of his eyes.

Sophie scowled as she rubbed her palm. Her hand ached, but she quickly forgot about the pain as she watched in amazement while small red script appeared across her palm. Calcifer looked over with interest as Sophie read the words aloud "Those who wish to fortune make must await 'til morning's break".

"The queen has a sense of humor. But I'm afraid she's no poet."

Sophie and Calcifer shot panicked looks at each other before turning to the source of the voice. When their eyes met, Sophie gasped and Calcifer crackled. It was Michael, only a much more prim, well kept Michael. This young man had the same dark, chestnut hair, the thin build, average height, and olive-toned skin. However, this Michael's hair was neatly trimmed to frame his face while Sophie's Michael had a mop of hair usually carelessly tied with a leather strap. This Michael's clothes were conservative, colored steel grey and made out of something Sophie thought must be extraordinarily itchy. His tunic was of a lighter color than the rest of his wardrobe and had a design of three rings interlocked sewn in the middle. His grey pants looked as if they had been dunked in starch, and his dark grey knee-high boots looked as if they had been made with tar. He also held himself differently than the Michael she knew. He stood taller, as if a piece of plywood were strapped to his back. His face was hard set in a cold expression, though when the pair turned toward him, that expression abruptly changed.

"Milady Sophia?" His voice grew slightly higher, and his bare cheeks reddened. "What are you doing back in the castle? There are guards patrolling every corridor, you could be caught!"

Sophie and Calcifer once again exchanged glances, this time with looks of extreme confusion. Sophie decided to pipe up first while Calcifer gaped at Grey Michael (Calcifer's eventual nickname for this doppelganger).

"Michael? I…" Sophie hesitated. She didn't know how much this Michael knew about alternate universes, wizards, fire demons, magic, or mysterious gateways in space-time, so she didn't quite know how to respond. Revealing herself as not of this particular world might alarm Grey Michael, landing her and Calcifer a quick spot in the castle's dungeon. On the other hand, she was quite sure she needed to leave the castle to find the reason behind Lettie's replacement, and this door was unlikely to budge without his help. "I was just leaving, but seem to have forgotten how to exit the premises." Sophie was satisfied that she had sounded vague enough, but Grey Michael's expression was one of confusion.

"Myk-ull? That is the strangest way I have ever heard you pronounce my name. When did you collect such a strange accent, Milady?"

It was Sophie's turn to gape. She wondered how Grey Michael pronounced his name, how much of a coincidence it was that their doppelgangers knew each other, how her mirror image came to be called "Milady" (and came to have nearly her same name), and how she was supposed to get out of this predicament. _At least he seems to be an ally, from the look of this place, that's going to be necessary._

"Uh, I must have picked it up during my absence" Sophie glanced around the large room, now quite tense about a guard popping up at any moment. "Did you say you could unlock the door? I wouldn't want to cause any trouble with those guards".

Grey Michael's expression remained confused but perhaps adopted a side of concern. "The door cannot be unlocked after sundown, just as it was before you were exiled. Did you run into any bad hexes during your travels? Something seems….different."

Now Grey Michael was examining Sophie as if he were looking for hidden script saying "This isn't Sophie, this is an imposter". Sophie resisted the overwhelming urge to squirm, but Grey Michael must have heard something because his expression twisted into panic as he grabbed Sophie's arm.

"We need to get you both out of here now."

He tugged hard on Sophie's arm and began to drag her down a corridor to the left of the wooden double doors, Calcifer closely followed the pair. The trio flew down one dark hallway after another. They seemed to be descending to lower levels of the castle, though Sophie lost track of how many times they went down the stairs, how many times they went back up, and how many twists and turns they took. Eventually they ended in what appeared to be a linen storeroom. Piles of sheets and towels lined the dusty stone walls, Sophie did not envy the people that folded and stacked each one of them in the large room. Most of them looked like they had been there a long while, the top of each pile covered in a thick layer of dust. At the back of the room was a large hearth full of ash. Sophie mused that it must be the receptacle for soiled linen, but her thoughts were interrupted by Grey Michael's breathless voice.

"The castle has many storerooms, this one is mostly unused. You two will have to stay the night here. I'll bring clothes for you in the morning, Milady, we might have a chance of getting you out of here unnoticed. Your friend on the other hand…"

Grey Michael issued a slightly hopeless look toward Calcifer, who, despite himself, looked a little nervous. Sophie could always tell when Calcifer was truly worried, his blue flames grew smaller, making him look like a small ball rather than a burning demon.

"Well, we shall just have to make due." Grey Michael turned to leave, but paused at the doorway, "Oh, Milady? It's pronounced Markl. If anyone hears you call me Myk-ull, they will notice who you are."

He vanished before Sophie could say thank you, or before she could ask why he had helped her, when she clearly was not the Right Sophie. She glanced up at Calcifer who looked as puzzled as she felt. He also looked grumpy. Though fire demons don't sleep in the same manner that humans do, they get cranky when they lose energy. Sophie nodded toward the grate.

"Might as well get some sleep, Calcifer, we're clearly not getting out of here tonight".

Calcifer crackled, told Sophie goodnight, and floated over to the grate where he turned into a ball of ember. Sophie cast a look around the room, trying to determine which pile of old sheets looked the most comfortable. She settled on two piles stacked side-by-side, forming the closest thing to a bed she would get for her entire journey. Despite her growling stomach and face full of dust, Sophie fell into unconsciousness.


End file.
